Sugar Tax Briefing

Last year, the Prime Minister and Health Secretary both ruled out imposing a "sugar tax" on drinks and foods with high sugar contents. A sugar tax would be regressive and ineffective.

Nevertheless, public health campaigners have remained persistent in their calls for a sugar tax. Given the enormous administrative and legal complexities that imposing a sugar tax on foods would create, proposals from organisations like the BMA are currently limited to a levy on "sugar-sweetened beverages" which would increase their price by at least 20 per cent (British Medical Association, 2015).

The TaxPayers’ Alliance strongly opposes any move to impose a sugar tax and hopes that politicians will consider the extensive body of evidence demonstrating that a “sugar tax” is both unnecessary and undesirable.